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Spirit Airlines will slash its schedule by a quarter in November as the discounter makes tough bankruptcy decisions.<\/p>\n
Dave Davis, CEO of Spirit, told staff members Wednesday in a memo viewed by TPG that the airline would be 25% smaller in terms of available seat miles, a standard industry measure of capacity, in November compared to the same month last year.<\/p>\n
The cuts, he wrote, would involve “significant adjustments, coupled with ongoing cost-savings efforts amid the restructuring.”<\/p>\n
FAQ: Spirit Airlines’ bankruptcy and how it might affect your travel<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Spirit filed for its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring<\/a> in less than a year in August, promising significant changes to its route map, fleet and costs. The carrier exited its last bankruptcy in March.<\/p>\n The budget airline earlier in September confirmed that it would end flights to 11 destinations<\/a>, plus one future city, in October. The cuts overwhelmingly hit Spirit’s flying in the Western U.S., where eight airports, including Portland International Airport (PDX) in Oregon and San Diego International Airport (SAN)<\/a> in California, will lose service.<\/p>\n Davis did not say in his memo whether the November schedule would cut more cities from Spirit’s map. However, schedules from aviation analytics firm Cirium show the airline’s November capacity currently down only 14% year over year \u2014 suggesting significant additional reductions are necessary to achieve a 25% cut.<\/p>\n Spirit executives have indicated that the airline will retrench and focus on core airports as part of its bankruptcy. These include Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) and Orlando International Airport (MCO).<\/p>\n Davis warned staff members in his memo that the airline must cut costs \u2014 including with its labor groups \u2014 as it shrinks.<\/p>\n Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter<\/p>\n Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG\u2019s experts<\/p>\n